104-588: Royal Air Force Ludford Magna or more simply RAF Ludford Magna is a former Royal Air Force station located on agricultural farmland immediately south of the village of Ludford , Lincolnshire and was sited 21.4 miles (34.4 km) north east of the county town of Lincoln , Lincolnshire, England. The airfield was operated by RAF Bomber Command during the Second World War and the Cold War with it being used for Avro Lancaster bomber operations in
208-679: A Private Finance Initiative with newly purchased Sikorsky S-92 and AgustaWestland AW189 aircraft. The new contract means that all UK SAR coverage is now provided by Bristow aircraft. In 2018, the RAF's vision of a future constellation of imagery satellites was initiated through the launch of the Carbonite-2 technology demonstrator. The 100 kg Carbonite-2 uses commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components to deliver high-quality imagery and 3D video footage from space. The Royal Air Force celebrated its 100th anniversary on 1 April 2018. It marked
312-637: A wing commander and, for a fast-jet squadron, have an complement of around twelve aircraft. Independent flights are so designated because they are explicitly smaller in size than a squadron. Many independent flights are, or have been, front-line flying units. For example, No. 1435 Flight carries out air defence duties for the Falkland Islands , with four Eurofighter Typhoon fighters based at RAF Mount Pleasant . Support capabilities are provided by several specialist wings and other units. Command, control, and support for overseas operations
416-687: A distance of 50 miles. It was first used on the night of 7 October 1943 over Stuttgart in a raid with 343 Lancasters. In the autumn of 1944, 101 Squadron was the first in the RAF to use the Village Inn Automatic Gun-Laying Turret . From October 1944 No. 100 Group RAF , stationed in Norfolk , took over most of the electronic jamming role. On 4 March 1945 it suffered its first attack from enemy bombers. On 10 February 1945, 101 Squadron took delivery of an ABC-equipped Avro Lancaster PA237. Less than two weeks later, on
520-532: A frequency was identified, one of the three transmitters would be set to jam that frequency and the operator would begin hunting for another signal. As the effective range of ABC was on the order of 50 miles (80 km), and the bomber streams were often much longer, the ABC aircraft had to be spread out through the stream. This required many ABC aircraft to fly on every mission. As a result, losses among No. 101 were very high; between 18 November 1943 and 24 March 1944,
624-566: A front-line training responsibility – their job is to group the University Air Squadrons and the Volunteer Gliding Squadrons together. The commanding officer of No. 2 FTS holds the only full-time flying appointment for a Group Captain in the RAF, and is a reservist. Airborne Cigar Airborne Cigar , or ABC for short, was a World War II electronic countermeasure (ECM) system developed by
728-644: A minor role in the Korean War , with flying boats taking part. From 1953 to 1956 the RAF Avro Lincoln squadrons carried out anti- Mau Mau operations in Kenya using its base at RAF Eastleigh . The Suez Crisis in 1956 saw a large RAF role, with aircraft operating from RAF Akrotiri and RAF Nicosia on Cyprus and RAF Luqa and RAF Hal Far on Malta as part of Operation Musketeer . The RAF suffered its most recent loss to an enemy aircraft during
832-409: A public auction on 22 July 1964. On 19 October 1965, the remaining 505 acres (204 ha) were sold to local farmers and some temporary buildings were demolished while others have fallen into disrepair or have been adapted for other uses. Parts of the runway perimeter and the three Thor missile launchpads still remain, as do most of the accommodation buildings north of the village. In 1978 a war memorial
936-620: A quarter of Bomber Command's personnel were Canadian. Additionally, the Royal Australian Air Force represented around nine per cent of all RAF personnel who served in the European and Mediterranean theatres. During the Battle of Britain in 1940, the RAF defended the skies over Britain against the numerically superior German Luftwaffe . In what is perhaps the most prolonged and complicated air campaign in history,
1040-657: A range of 1,500 miles (2,400 km) was tipped with a 1.44 megaton nuclear warhead, jointly controlled by the Royal Air Force and the United States Air Force under the so-called "dual-key arrangements". In 1959 RAF Hemswell became the headquarters for the "No. 5 (Lincolnshire) Missile Dispersal Sites" located at RAF Bardney , RAF Caistor , RAF Coleby Grange and RAF Ludford Magna. The missiles at Ludford Magna were maintained and operated by No. 104 Squadron RAF . The Cuban Missile Crisis brought
1144-499: A result. The system was tested 4 to 6 September 1943 and first went into operation on the night of 7/8 October. ABC required the operator to listen for any broadcasts in the VHF bands. As these communications were fleeting, they could not simply hunt around the dial looking for transmissions. Instead, a motorized tuner swept the receiver through the entire band 25 times a second. Any signals received were sent to an oscilloscope , causing
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#17327980052641248-594: A single Hawker Tempest F.6 in January 1949. Before Britain developed its own nuclear weapons , the RAF was provided with American nuclear weapons under Project E . However, following the development of its own arsenal, the British Government elected on 16 February 1960 to share the country's nuclear deterrent between the RAF and submarines of the Royal Navy, first deciding to concentrate solely on
1352-626: A support enabler role. A Control and Reporting Centre (CRC) at RAF Boulmer is tasked with compiling a Recognised Air Picture of UK air space and providing tactical control of the Quick Reaction Alert Force . In order to achieve this Boulmer is supported by a network of eight Remote Radar Heads (RRHs) spread the length of the UK. The UK operates permanent military airfields (known as Permanent Joint Operating Bases) in four British Overseas Territories . These bases contribute to
1456-481: A version of Cigar that could be fitted to an aircraft. This concept naturally became known as the "Airborne Cigar", and as a result, the original retroactively became the "Ground Cigar". Bufton also suggested that "in view of the brevity and simplicity of the term, it is requested that you refer to 'Airborne Cigar' aircraft as ABC aircraft in future communications." The system was originally intended for fitting to No. 100 Squadron RAF bombers, but as these aircraft were in
1560-408: A vertical "blip" to appear on the display. The horizontal axis of the oscilloscope was connected to a time base generator for the same 1 ⁄ 25 second period, and synchronized to the tuner. Thus, the horizontal position of the blip indicated the frequency of the signal. When a blip was seen, the operator would then tune a second conventional tuner to the same frequency and began listening to
1664-490: A war that remained under low profile. The Konfrontasi against Indonesia in the early 1960s did see use of RAF aircraft, but due to a combination of deft diplomacy and selective ignoring of certain events by both sides, it never developed into a full-scale war. The RAF played a large role in the Aden Emergency between 1963 and 1967. Hawker Hunter FGA.9s based at RAF Khormaksar , Aden , were regularly called in by
1768-999: Is also responsible for the RAF Medical Services, RAF Support Force, consisting of the RAF's engineering, logistics, intelligence, signals, musical and mountain rescue assets, RAF's Combat and Readiness Force, comprising the RAF Regiment , and the Air Security Force, comprising RAF Police . It oversees stations at RAF Benson and RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, RAF Henlow in Bedfordshire, RAF Honington in Suffolk, RAF Odiham in Hampshire and RAF Northolt in West London. No. 11 Group
1872-501: Is at RAF High Wycombe co-located with Air Command. Groups are the subdivisions of operational commands and are responsible for certain types of capabilities or for operations in limited geographical areas. There are five groups subordinate to Air Command, of which four are functional and one is geographically focused: No. 1 Group is responsible for combat aircraft (comprising the Lightning Force and Typhoon Force) and
1976-814: Is part of the Ministry of Defence and body legally responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom and its overseas territories . The Chief of the Air Staff chairs the Air Force Board Standing Committee (AFBSC) which decides on the policy and actions required for the RAF to meet the requirements of the Defence Council and His Majesty's Government . The Chief of the Air Staff is supported by several other senior commanders: Administrative and operational command of
2080-657: Is responsible for integrating operations across the air , cyber and space domains whilst responding to new and evolving threats. It includes the RAF's Battlespace Management Force which controls the UK Air Surveillance and Control System (ASACS). The group oversees stations at RAF Boulmer in Northumberland, RAF Fylingdales in North Yorkshire and RAF Spadeadam in Cumbria. No. 22 Group
2184-731: Is responsible for the supply of qualified and skilled personnel to the RAF and provides flying and non-flying training to all three British armed services. It is the end-user of the UK Military Flying Training System which is provided by civilian contractor Ascent Flight Training . The group oversees stations at RAF College Cranwell in Lincolnshire, RAF Cosford and RAF Shawbury in Shropshire, RAF Halton in Buckinghamshire, MOD St Athan in
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#17327980052642288-592: Is second to none, and that makes a decisive air power contribution in support of the UK Defence Mission". The mission statement is supported by the RAF's definition of air power , which guides its strategy. Air power is defined as "the ability to project power from the air and space to influence the behaviour of people or the course of events". Today, the Royal Air Force maintains an operational fleet of various types of aircraft, described by
2392-517: Is typically provided through Expeditionary Air Wings (EAWs). Each wing is brought together as and when required and comprises the deployable elements of its home station as well as other support elements from throughout the RAF. Several Expeditionary Air Wings are based overseas: The RAF Schools consist of the squadrons and support apparatus that train new aircrew to join front-line squadrons. The schools separate individual streams, but group together units with similar responsibility or that operate
2496-643: The 1948 Arab–Israeli War : during the withdrawal of the former Mandatory Palestine in May 1948 where British Supermarine Spitfire FR.18s shot down four Royal Egyptian Air Force Spitfire LF.9s after the REAF mistakenly attacked RAF Ramat David airbase; and during encounters with the Israeli Air Force which saw the loss of a single de Havilland Mosquito PR.34 in November 1948 and four Spitfire FR.18s and
2600-653: The British Army as close air support to carry out strikes on rebel positions. The Radfan Campaign (Operation Nutcracker) in early 1964 was successful in suppressing the revolt in Radfa, however it did nothing to end the insurgency with the British withdrawing from Aden in November 1967. One of the largest actions undertaken by the RAF during the Cold War was the air campaign during the 1982 Falklands War , in which
2704-581: The British Empire , including establishing bases to protect Singapore and Malaya. The RAF's naval aviation branch, the Fleet Air Arm , was founded in 1924 but handed over to Admiralty control on 24 May 1939. The RAF adopted the doctrine of strategic bombing , which led to the construction of long-range bombers and became its main bombing strategy in the Second World War . The Royal Air Force underwent rapid expansion prior to and during
2808-616: The Handley Page Halifaxes of No. 462 Squadron RAAF . They began operations in March 1945. ABC remained in use in the post-war era; the specialist No. 199 Squadron RAF fitted four ABC transmitters to their force of Avro Lincolns and a single example in their de Havilland Mosquitos . They later fitted one to their English Electric Canberra , and later still to their Vickers Valiants , which had enough electrical power for six transmitters. When No. 199 stood down in 1958,
2912-678: The London Eye , the RAF Memorial and (at 13.00) the Ministry of Defence building . Four major defence reviews have been conducted since the end of the Cold War: the 1990 Options for Change , the 1998 Strategic Defence Review , the 2003 Delivering Security in a Changing World and the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR). All four defence reviews have resulted in steady reductions in manpower and numbers of aircraft, especially combat aircraft such as fast-jets. As part of
3016-659: The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS). This was done as recommended in a report prepared by the South African statesman and general Jan Smuts . At that time it was the largest air force in the world. Its headquarters was located in the former Hotel Cecil . After the war, the RAF was drastically cut and its inter-war years were relatively quiet. The RAF was put in charge of British military activity in Iraq , and carried out minor activities in other parts of
3120-741: The Royal Navy 's Fleet Air Arm and the British Army 's Army Air Corps also operate armed aircraft. The Royal Air Force was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the third independent air force in the world after the Mexican Air Force (established 5 February 1915) and the Finnish Air Force (established 6 March 1918), by merging the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and
3224-626: The Telecommunications Research Establishment (TRE) to jam Luftwaffe ground-to-air radios operating in the very high frequency (VHF) band. When used properly, the system made enemy night fighter communications almost impossible. The Germans referred to ABC as "dudelsack", German for bagpipes , in reference to the warbling sound. The system consisted of a wide-band receiver and three tunable transmitters of about 50 W output. The German-speaking Special Duties Operators (SDOs) would listen to signals in
RAF Ludford Magna - Misplaced Pages Continue
3328-417: The UK Military Flying Training System which is dedicated to training aircrew for all three UK armed services. Specialist ground crew training is focused at RAF Cosford , RAF St Mawgan and MOD St. Athan . Operations are supported by numerous other flying and non-flying stations, with activity focussed at RAF Honington which coordinates Force Protection and RAF Leeming & RAF Wittering which have
3432-556: The United States Air Force , the RAF formed its own RPAS squadron in 2007 when No. 39 Squadron was stood up as a General Atomics MQ-9A Reaper unit at Creech AFB , Nevada. The RAF's 90th anniversary was commemorated on 1 April 2008 by a flypast of the RAF's Aerobatic Display Team the Red Arrows and four Eurofighter Typhoons along the River Thames , in a straight line from just south of London City Airport Tower Bridge,
3536-740: The Westland Puma HC2 for search and rescue. No. 230 Squadron , based at Medicina Lines , Brunei, also operate the Puma HC2. A flying squadron is an aircraft unit which carries out the primary tasks of the RAF. RAF squadrons are somewhat analogous to the regiments of the British Army in that they have histories and traditions going back to their formation, regardless of where they are based or which aircraft they are operating. They can be awarded standards and battle honours for meritorious service. Most flying squadrons are commanded by
3640-460: The bomber stream . Because ABC was used on almost every mission, 101 suffered among the highest losses of the war. To counteract ABC, the Germans introduced new frequency bands. These were soon discovered and jammed as well. Other attempts, like false ground controllers, using women to send the signals, and other methods, all had little effect, and no effective countermeasure to ABC was found. ABC
3744-708: The 1991 Gulf War , the 1999 Kosovo War , the 2001 War in Afghanistan , the 2003 invasion and war in Iraq , the 2011 intervention in Libya and from 2014 onwards has been involved in the war against the Islamic State . The RAF began conducting Remotely-piloted Air System (RPAS) operations in 2004, with No. 1115 Flight carrying out missions in Afghanistan and Iraq with the General Atomics MQ-1 Predator . Initially embedded with
3848-547: The Battle of Britain contributed significantly to the delay and subsequent indefinite postponement of Operation Sea Lion , Hitler's plans for an invasion of the UK. In the House of Commons on 20 August, prompted by the ongoing efforts of the RAF, Prime Minister Winston Churchill made a speech to the nation, where he said " Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few" . The largest RAF effort during
3952-569: The Berlin Blockade take place. As part of Operation Pitting , the RAF helped evacuate over 15,000 people in two weeks. Between April and May 2023, the RAF helped evacuate over 2,300 people from Sudan due to the 2023 Sudan conflict as part of Operation Polarbear . In April 2024, Typhoon FGR4s operating from RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus, engaged and destroyed Iranian drones over Iraqi and Syrian airspace during Iran's strikes against Israel . The professional head and highest-ranking officer of
4056-570: The British Ministry of Defence (MOD), which are to "provide the capabilities needed to ensure the security and defence of the United Kingdom and overseas territories, including against terrorism; to support the Government's foreign policy objectives particularly in promoting international peace and security". The RAF describes its mission statement as "... [to provide] an agile, adaptable and capable Air Force that, person for person,
4160-587: The Group Operations messages. It needs to be clarified whether this produced enough jamming to hamper transmissions, and to some degree it was only added to demonstrate to the Germans that they knew of the new frequencies and were one step ahead of them at all times. In any event, the Germans soon abandoned the use of this frequency. Another attempt to avoid ABC jamming was made by using the now-useless HF bands to transmit Morse code instead of voice. Morse code's stronger signals made it easier to hear over
4264-673: The Houses of Parliament, Conservative MP and Minister of State for the Armed Forces , Andrew Robathan , announced that the RAF's QRA force had been scrambled almost thirty times in the last three years: eleven times during 2010, ten times during 2011 and eight times during 2012. RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire and RAF Lossiemouth in Moray both provide QRA aircraft, and scramble their Typhoons within minutes to meet or intercept aircraft which give cause for concern. Lossiemouth generally covers
RAF Ludford Magna - Misplaced Pages Continue
4368-549: The Jostle VHF jammer. Instead of attempting to identify and jam the specific frequencies being used, Jostle produced 2,000 W of power which it broadcast across the entire ground-to-air band. This required no "operation", it simply had to be turned on when needed. Jostle-equipped aircraft would broadcast on a random time slot to avoid allowing German night fighters to use the broadcasts as a homing source. Those ABC units still operational were removed from No. 101 and moved to
4472-567: The Ludford Magna missiles stood erect and ready to fire on their mobile launchers. Politically the following day came to be referred to as "Black Saturday" and was very tense until a negotiated stand-down by both sides was reached. Former Group Captain George Aylett revealed that a potential disaster occurred on 7 December 1960 at RAF Ludford Magna. The RAF technicians fuelling the missile allowed its liquid oxygen tank to empty on to
4576-421: The RAF as being "leading-edge" in terms of technology. This largely consists of fixed-wing aircraft, including those in the following roles: fighter and strike , airborne early warning and control , intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance (ISTAR), signals intelligence (SIGINT), maritime patrol, air-to-air refueling (AAR) and strategic & tactical transport . The majority of
4680-517: The RAF emerged as the largest air force in the world at the time. Since its formation, the RAF has played a significant role in British military history . In particular, during the Second World War , the RAF established air superiority over Nazi Germany 's Luftwaffe during the Battle of Britain , and led the Allied strategic bombing effort. The RAF's mission is to support the objectives of
4784-689: The RAF is delegated by the Air Force Board to Headquarters Air Command , based at RAF High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire . Air Command was formed on 1 April 2007 by combining RAF Strike Command and RAF Personnel and Training Command , resulting in a single command covering the whole RAF, led by the Chief of the Air Staff. Through its subordinate groups , Air Command oversees the whole spectrum of RAF aircraft and operations. United Kingdom Space Command (UKSC), established 1 April 2021 under
4888-408: The RAF operated alongside the Fleet Air Arm . During the war, RAF aircraft were deployed in the mid-Atlantic at RAF Ascension Island and a detachment from No. 1 Squadron was deployed with the Royal Navy, operating from the aircraft carrier HMS Hermes . RAF pilots also flew missions using the Royal Navy's Sea Harriers in the air-to-air combat role, in particular Flight Lieutenant Dave Morgan
4992-546: The RAF's intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance (ISTAR) capabilities. It oversees stations at RAF Coningsby and RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire, RAF Lossiemouth in Moray and RAF Marham in Norfolk. The group's Eurofighter Typhoon FGR4 aircraft protect UK and NATO airspace by providing a continuous Quick Reaction Alert capability. No. 2 Group controls the Air Mobility Force which provides strategic and tactical airlift , air-to-air refuelling and command support air transport (CSAT). The group
5096-427: The RAF's rotary-wing aircraft form part of the tri-service Joint Aviation Command in support of ground forces. Most of the RAF's aircraft and personnel are based in the UK, with many others serving on global operations (principally over Iraq and Syria ) or at long-established overseas bases ( Ascension Island , Cyprus , Gibraltar , and the Falkland Islands ). Although the RAF is the principal British air power arm,
5200-401: The Royal Air Force is the Chief of the Air Staff (CAS). He reports to the Chief of the Defence Staff , who is the professional head of the British Armed Forces . The incumbent Chief of the Air Staff is Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton who was appointed in 2023. The management of the RAF is the responsibility of the Air Force Board , a sub-committee of the Defence Council which
5304-440: The SDO's into thinking those were already jammed. The transmitter would be turned off immediately before a real broadcast went out. Y service soon indicated that a new frequency band from 31 to 32 MHz was also being used. This was outside the frequency range of the ABC receiver, so a switch was added to the transmitters that would cause them to send out noise across this entire band. This would be triggered on instructions from
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#17327980052645408-478: The Second World War. Under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan of December 1939, the air forces of British Commonwealth countries trained and formed " Article XV squadrons " for service with RAF formations. Many individual personnel from these countries, and exiles from occupied Europe , also served with RAF squadrons. By the end of the war the Royal Canadian Air Force had contributed more than 30 squadrons to serve in RAF formations, similarly, approximately
5512-423: The Suez Crisis, when an English Electric Canberra PR7 was shot down over Syria . In 1957, the RAF participated heavily during the Jebel Akhdar War in Oman, operating both de Havilland Venom and Avro Shackleton aircraft. The RAF made 1,635 raids, dropping 1,094 tons and firing 900 rockets at the interior of Oman between July and December 1958, targeting insurgents, mountain top villages and water channels in
5616-434: The UK, mostly on the east coast. After the war some of the station's buildings were used to house 800 Polish refugees between 1948 and 1956. In January 1956 RAF Hemswell just north of Lincoln was established as an RAF Bomber Command missile unit, maintaining and operating nine mobile mounted PGM-17 Thor Intermediate Range Ballistic Nuclear Missile launchers of No. 97(Strategic Missile) Squadron RAF . Each missile with
5720-467: The UK. Six T2 and one B1 hangars were eventually erected on the airfield. There were three concrete runways, one north–south main at 2,000 yards (1,830 m) and two 1,400-yard (1,280 m) runways in a standard triangular layout. The station's main gate was on Sixhills Lane . Due to the condition and poor drainage of the airfield it quickly acquired the nickname Mudford Magna . It had accommodation for 1,953 male and 305 female personnel, although
5824-421: The United States and works in close cooperation with the U.S. Air Force in the development of the Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning . No. 80 Squadron is part of the Australia, Canada and United Kingdom Reprogramming Laboratory (ACURL) at Eglin Air Force Base , Florida, and is tasked with compiling and testing the Mission Data File Sets (MDFS) for the F-35. No. 84 Squadron is located at RAF Akrotiri, operating
5928-578: The Vale of Glamorgan, RAF St Mawgan in Cornwall and RAF Valley on Anglesey. The No. 22 Group also manages the Royal Air Force Air Cadets . An RAF station is ordinarily subordinate to a group and is commanded by a group captain . Each station typically hosts several flying and non-flying squadrons or units which are supported by administrative and support wings. Front-line flying operations are focused at eight stations: Flying training takes places at RAF Barkston Heath , RAF College Cranwell , RAF Shawbury and RAF Valley , each forming part of
6032-400: The accommodation sites were situated north of the village and widely dispersed on various agricultural fields. The station technical site was located on the north western edge of the station. Bombs for Ludford Magna's Lancasters and for many other local airfields' planes, were supplied from No. 233 Maintenance Unit RAF at RAF Market Stainton . The airfield's bombs were stored widely spaced along
6136-439: The air force's V bomber fleet. These were initially armed with nuclear gravity bombs , later being equipped with the Blue Steel missile . Following the development of the Royal Navy's Polaris submarines , the strategic nuclear deterrent passed to the navy's submarines on 30 June 1969. With the introduction of Polaris, the RAF's strategic nuclear role was reduced to a tactical one, using WE.177 gravity bombs. This tactical role
6240-494: The arrival of jet fighters and bombers. During the early stages of the Cold War, one of the first major operations undertaken by the RAF was the Berlin Airlift , codenamed Operation Plainfire. Between 26 June 1948 and the lifting of the Russian blockade of the city on 12 May 1949, the RAF provided 17% of the total supplies delivered, using Avro Yorks , Douglas Dakotas flying to Gatow Airport and Short Sunderlands flying to Lake Havel. The RAF saw its first post-war engagements in
6344-400: The band to determine which frequencies were being used by ground controllers. When one was found, one of the transmitters would be turned to that frequency and begin broadcasting noise. ABC was operated primarily by No. 101 Squadron RAF , part of the specialist No. 100 Group RAF . As the system was only useful over a range of about 50 miles (80 km), their Lancasters were spread out through
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#17327980052646448-414: The command of Air Vice-Marshal Paul Godfrey is a joint command, but sits "under the Royal Air Force." Godfrey is of equal rank to the commanders of 1, 2, 11, and 22 Groups. The new command has "responsibility for not just operations, but also generating, training and growing the force, and also owning the money and putting all the programmatic rigour into delivering new ..capabilities." UKSC headquarters
6552-463: The decline of the British Empire, global operations were scaled back, and RAF Far East Air Force was disbanded on 31 October 1971. Despite this, the RAF fought in many battles in the Cold War period. In June 1948, the RAF commenced Operation Firedog against Malayan pro-independence fighters during the Malayan Emergency . Operations continued for the next 12 years until 1960 with aircraft flying out of RAF Tengah and RAF Butterworth . The RAF played
6656-574: The edge of Caistor High Street to avoid a sequence of detonation if the base was attacked or sabotaged. Its two satellite airfields were RAF Wickenby and RAF Faldingworth , each the other side of Market Rasen , with all three airfields part of No. 14 Base from 16 December 1943, although the base operations began on 20 January 1944. It was planned to base No. 576 Squadron RAF at the airfield, with crews drawn from No. 101 Squadron and No. 103 Squadron RAF , but in November 1943 more suitable facilities were located at RAF Elsham Wolds . The first operation
6760-430: The entire UK based Thor missile force to maximum strategic alert and readiness for a ten-day period during October and November 1962. On 26 October 1962 the NATO alert level was raised to DEFCON 2 and the missiles were made ready for launching, on a phased-hold leaving the missiles eight minutes from launch in the vertical unfuelled condition or two minutes from launch in the fuelled position. Local residents can remember
6864-415: The evening of 23 February 1945, the aircraft was one of 368 Lancasters and 13 Mosquitoes to take part in a raid on Pforzheim in Germany, home to watchmaking and jewellery trades whose precision skills were thought to be contributing to the Nazi war effort. ABC-equipped Lancasters had distinctively large aerials so were key targets of Luftwaffe crews as a result. PA237 was one of 12 Lancasters shot down during
6968-569: The first hint of something abnormal, a controller has the option to put them on a higher level of alert, 'a call to cockpit'. In this scenario the pilot races to the hardened aircraft shelter and does everything short of starting his engines". On 4 October 2015, a final stand-down saw the end of more than 70 years of RAF Search and Rescue provision in the UK. The RAF and Royal Navy's Westland Sea King fleets, after over 30 years of service, were retired. A civilian contractor, Bristow Helicopters , took over responsibility for UK Search and Rescue, under
7072-443: The foggy weather cleared. Volunteer observers at the surrounding Royal Observer Corps posts were specially trained and provided with coloured rocket flares (code named Granite ) to guide any aircraft lost in thick fog towards the limited number of FIDO equipped stations. The only other airfields in Lincolnshire fitted with FIDO systems were RAF Fiskerton , RAF Metheringham and RAF Sturgate and there were only 15 FIDO stations in
7176-402: The great bulk of the RAF's bombing campaign, mainly due to Harris, but it also developed precision bombing techniques for specific operations, such as the infamous "Dambusters" raid by No. 617 Squadron , or the Amiens prison raid known as Operation Jericho . Following victory in the Second World War, the RAF underwent significant re-organisation, as technological advances in air warfare saw
7280-462: The highest scoring pilot of the war. Following a British victory, the RAF remained in the South Atlantic to provide air defence to the Falkland Islands, with the McDonnell Douglas Phantom FGR2 based at RAF Mount Pleasant which was built in 1984. With the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union, the RAF's focus returned to expeditionary air power . Since 1990, the RAF has been involved in several large-scale operations, including
7384-567: The latest 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review, the BAE Systems Nimrod MRA4 maritime patrol aircraft was cancelled due to over spending and missing deadlines. Other reductions saw total manpower reduced by 5,000 personnel to a trained strength of 33,000 and the early retirement of the Joint Force Harrier aircraft, the BAE Harrier GR7/GR9 . In recent years, fighter aircraft on Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) have been increasingly required to scramble in response to Russian Air Force aircraft approaching British airspace. On 24 January 2014, in
7488-560: The latter part of the Second World War the station was placed on care and maintenance until the mid-1950s when it was reactivated as a Cold War base for PGM-17 Thor intermediate range ballistic missiles (IRBMs). The station closed in the early part of the 1960s and has been mostly dismantled and returned to agricultural uses. The remains of the station can be seen from the B1225 Caistor High Street, and
7592-464: The launch pad. The leak could have caused a major fire leading to detonation of the rocket's fuel. "It could have created a terrible disaster," Group Captain Aylett said. A specialist on nuclear weapon accidents at Bradford University said that the destruction of the warhead would have contaminated between 100 and 300 square miles (260 and 780 km). The brick built accommodation buildings were sold in
7696-680: The long-distance footpath the Viking Way passes right next to the eastern perimeter track. The station was constructed by George Wimpey with concrete runways on a 650-acre (260 ha) site in June 1943, on the site of High Fields Farm, and originally assigned to No. 1 Group RAF , headquartered at RAF Bawtry . It was the highest bomber airfield in England at 428 feet (130 m) above sea level, and cost £803,000. No. 101 Squadron RAF arrived on 15 June 1943 from RAF Holme-on-Spalding Moor and
7800-455: The main RAF bombing campaign began to ramp up. At the time, the Germans used two sets of frequency bands for air-to-ground communications, the main one in the high frequency (HF) band between 3 and 6 MHz and another in the very high frequency (VHF) band between 38 and 42 MHz. For the HF frequencies, the Telecommunications Research Establishment (TRE) developed the "Tinsel" system that
7904-473: The newer VHF bands. On 7 April 1943, Bomber Command asked the Air Ministry for a solution, which emerged as "Cigar". Because VHF transmitters of the required power were large, this was built in a ground-based form. The first example was set up at Sizewell and went into operation for the first time on the night of 30/31 July 1943. Unfortunately, it was difficult for the Y service to give any indication of
8008-490: The noise. This required the fighter's radio operator to decode the messages, making it useful only for larger multi-place aircraft where someone could be dedicated to this role. This was almost instantly countered through a new system known as "Drumstick", first used on the night of 21/22 January 1944. After the signal was picked up at the Cheadle Y station, Drumstick sent out random dots and dashes while increasing and decreasing
8112-431: The northern sector of UK airspace, while Coningsby covers the southern sector. Typhoon pilot Flight Lieutenant Noel Rees describes how QRA duty works. "At the start of the scaled QRA response, civilian air traffic controllers might see on their screens an aircraft behaving erratically, not responding to their radio calls, or note that it's transmitting a distress signal through its transponder. Rather than scramble Typhoons at
8216-478: The occasion on 10 July 2018 with a flypast over London consisting of 103 aircraft. Between March 2020 and 2022, the RAF assisted with the response efforts to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom as part of Operation Rescript . This saw the service provide repatriation flights and aeromedical evacuations of COVID-19 patients, drivers and call-handlers to support ambulance services and medics to assist with
8320-405: The open flame burners along the length of the main runway were ignited the intense rising heat would lift and disperse the fog leaving a visually clear and illuminated runway. Not all RAF stations were FIDO equipped and when dense fog affected the county it was not unknown for aircraft from several stations to be diverted to RAF Ludford Magna for a safe landing, returning to their home stations when
8424-499: The physical defence and maintenance of sovereignty of the British Overseas Territories and enable the UK to conduct expeditionary military operations . Although command and oversight of the bases is provided by Strategic Command , the airfield elements are known as RAF stations. Four RAF squadrons are based overseas. No. 17 Test and Evaluation Squadron is based at Edwards Air Force Base , California, in
8528-414: The process of receiving the new H2S radars , they had no leftover electrical power to run the ABC system. Thus No. 101 Squadron RAF was selected, operating the system for much of the war. Building such a system was tough work; high-power VHF transmitters of the era were quite large, and to be effective an aircraft would have to carry several in order to spot-jam different working frequencies. Ultimately,
8632-479: The proficiency of the ABC operators, even this frequency hopping could be so disrupted as to render fighter operations difficult. Other attempts were made to disrupt ABC use, including having women make broadcasts or, in other cases, producing false signals by playing music on other channels to waste the SDO's time. Another system used captured ABC sets to send out jamming on the frequencies they intended to use, fooling
8736-559: The radio operator in the aircraft but instead by the Y service signals intercept stations in England. These were then forwarded to the aircraft in coded terms during the half-hour scheduled Group Operational messages sent from Bomber Command. Two-thirds of the Group would then tune their jammer to that signal, creating a powerful source of jamming. In addition, in October, the Corona system
8840-569: The raid; the young crew of 7 are buried at the Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery in Durnbach, near Bad Tölz , south of Munich. Ludford Magna was one of a small number of RAF stations equipped with an early experimental Fog Investigation and Dispersal Operation (FIDO) system. The station was provided with seven large fuel tanks, which pumped petrol into two large pipes running up either side one of their runways. Once
8944-400: The rest of their equipment. Additionally, the Germans came up with a useful counter to Tinsel; instead of sending commands to single aircraft, a single very high-power transmitter mass-broadcast a running commentary on the location of the bomber stream. This resulted in the "Special Tinsel" concept, introduced in June 1943. The frequencies being used by the controllers were not searched out by
9048-419: The same aircraft type. Some schools operate with only one squadron, and have an overall training throughput which is relatively small; some, like No. 3 Flying Training School , have responsibility for all Elementary Flying Training (EFT) in the RAF, and all RAF aircrew will pass through its squadrons when they start their flying careers. No. 2 Flying Training School and No. 6 Flying Training School do not have
9152-404: The signal rate to match any potential keying rate from the original operator. Although ABC was effective throughout the war, it made use of German-speaking crewmembers who were in high demand for other roles. Worse, it put them very much in harm's way, and as most were Jewish, the personal risks in case of capture were extremely high. As a result, ABC was eventually replaced by a new version of
9256-475: The staffing of hospitals, testing units and vaccination centres. Under Operation Broadshare , the RAF has also been involved with COVID-19 relief operations overseas, repatriating stranded nationals and delivering medical supplies and vaccines to British Overseas Territories and military installations. The UK's 20-year long operations in Afghanistan came to an end in August 2021, seeing the largest airlift since
9360-533: The success of this system because its broadcasts made it impossible for them to hear the night fighter traffic. The Admiralty also complained as they relied on Y service intercepts to track E-boat operations. This was among the first of many cases where the offended group was forced to demonstrate that their loss of intercept intelligence would have a greater impact than the loss of jamming to Bomber Command, an argument they almost always lost due to Bomber Command's high attrition rates at that time. In this case, Cigar
9464-419: The system consisted of three transmitters broadcasting from two 7 foot (2.1 m) antenna masts above the wing, with a single specialized receiver and its shorter antenna mounted near the tail of the aircraft. The transmitter electronics were packaged into a large cylinder that massed 275 kilograms (606 lb) and took 3,000 man-hours to install. The bomb load was reduced by about 1,000 pounds (450 kg) as
9568-453: The time ABC was introduced, the Germans had been subject to several previous rounds of jamming and were well familiar with the tactic. They introduced new radio procedures that allowed the ground controller to quickly order the fighters to tune to a new frequency in case one was being jammed. This led to a cat-and-mouse situation with the ABC operators hunting down the new frequency and jamming it, forcing yet another frequency switch. Depending on
9672-532: The transmissions. They would listen for certain keywords like "kapelle", giving the target altitude, to identify ground controllers as opposed to other users. To do this, the operator had to have a working knowledge of the German language, and thus, many of the Special Duties Operators (SDOs or SOs) were Yiddish speakers, including a number of men who had escaped from Germany before the war. Once
9776-485: The unit lost seventeen aircraft. Seven were lost on the night of 30/31 March during the disastrous Nuremberg Raid , and another four on 3/4 May. As was the case for Tinsel, operations were sometimes aided by the Y service's station in West Kingsdown, who would attempt to identify the frequencies and send them to the ABC aircraft using code words. This proved largely ineffective due to range limitations, and ABC
9880-555: The war was the strategic bombing campaign against Germany by Bomber Command. While RAF bombing of Germany began almost immediately upon the outbreak of war at first it was ineffectual; it was only later, particularly under the leadership of Air Chief Marshal Harris , that these attacks became increasingly devastating, from early 1943 onward, as new technology and greater numbers of superior aircraft became available. The RAF adopted night-time area bombing on German cities such as Hamburg and Dresden . Night time area bombing constituted
9984-639: Was allowed to continue operation. A more serious concern for Cigar was a lack of range; the VHF signals did not refract around the Earth as well as lower frequencies, meaning that the effect was limited to the line-of-sight. In the case of Cigar, calculations suggested it would be effective to about 140 miles (230 km), which made it useful only against short-range raids in France and over the North Sea . On 6 May 1943, Air Commodore Sidney Osborne Bufton ordered
10088-562: Was almost always operated purely by the SDOs. One of ABC's major uses was during the D-Day invasion. In order to convince the Germans that the invasion was taking place near Pas de Calais , a large force of RAF Flying Fortresses dropped windows in patterns that looked like a massive paratrooper landing effort. To protect these aircraft, the entire force of ABC-equipped Lancasters was mustered to disrupt any attempt at interception utterly. By
10192-666: Was continued by the V bombers into the 1980s and until 1998 by the Panavia Tornado GR1 . For much of the Cold War the primary role of the RAF was the defence of Western Europe against potential attack by the Soviet Union , with many squadrons based in West Germany . The main RAF bases in RAF(G) were RAF Brüggen , RAF Gutersloh , RAF Laarbruch and RAF Wildenrath – the only air defence base in RAF(G). With
10296-406: Was declared operational three days later on 18 June. The squadron remained the primary occupants during the Second World War. Ludford Magna was the first airfield in 1 Group to be equipped with the experimental Fog Investigation and Dispersal Operation (FIDO) dispersal system, first used on 10 March 1944, as one of only fifteen RAF stations to be equipped with the pyrotechnic fog landing system in
10400-606: Was erected in the village. Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force ( RAF ) is the air and space force of the United Kingdom , British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies . It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS). Following the Allied victory over the Central Powers in 1918,
10504-508: Was fitted to many Lancasters. This consisted of an HF receiver that the operator could scan through the German frequencies, listening for any signals. When they found one being used, they would set their transmitter to the same frequency and send out a signal from a microphone next to the aircraft's engine. First used in December 1942, it was soon realized that the operators didn't have enough time to keep searching for frequencies while operating
10608-527: Was later supplanted by Jostle IV , which barraged the entire band beginning on 30 June 1944. The ABC systems moved to No. 462 Squadron RAAF in March 1945. After the war, they were moved to No. 199 Squadron RAF and in 1958 to No. 18 Squadron RAF , ending their long career on the Vickers Valiant . The idea of jamming the Luftwaffe ground-to-air radios appears to have been introduced in 1942 as
10712-792: Was on the night of 21 June 1943, with a raid on Krefeld in North Rhine-Westphalia , with the first of many Lancasters (ED650) from the base not to return home, crashing near Mönchengladbach . During the war a total of 113 Avro Lancasters from the base failed to return, the highest number from any single squadron. No. 101 Squadron were the main providers of electronic jamming equipment for raids over Germany, using Monica from July 1943 in three of their Lancasters, then Airborne Cigar (ABC) later in 1943. ABC involved German-speaking operators to misguide Luftwaffe nightfighters by transmitting Merlin -engine noise on three relevant Luftwaffe communication radio frequencies simultaneously over
10816-423: Was set up; when a frequency in the HF band was seen to be in use, German speakers in England would begin giving out orders to land or indicate that certain airbases were fogged in, causing further confusion. The Special Tinsel system became increasingly effective, and by the spring of 1943, the Y service was reporting that more and more of the successes being reported by German night fighters were those operating on
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